


In the Eye of the Storm

by fanfoolishness (LoonyLupin), LoonyLupin



Series: Starshine Over Beach City: Moments from Steven Universe [11]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Episode: s05e25 Legs From Here To Homeworld, Friendship, Gen, Quiet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 18:07:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21552748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoonyLupin/pseuds/fanfoolishness, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoonyLupin/pseuds/LoonyLupin
Summary: Garnet speaks with Greg before the journey to Homeworld.  The secrets of Rose Quartz have long shadows.
Relationships: Garnet & Greg Universe, Rose Quartz/Greg Universe
Series: Starshine Over Beach City: Moments from Steven Universe [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1523993
Comments: 10
Kudos: 104





	In the Eye of the Storm

Garnet’s future vision swirled around her, an explosion of new possibilities streaming beyond her sight. She had weathered future storms like this before after enormous and unforeseen events – the first time Ruby and Sapphire fused, Homeworld’s corruption of the Gems on Earth, the return of Homeworld Gems to the planet – but they were never easy. And this storm, perhaps, was the greatest of them all. **  
**

She exited the rubble of Steven’s home, leaving Pearl and Amethyst, who were hunting for Steven’s things to pack. Homeworld would be short on food and clean underpants for Steven, so it was important to bring what they could.

At the far end of the beach, Blue and Yellow Diamond sat together near the ship that had once belonged to Pink Diamond. Garnet fought a scowl. She could see a number of paths occurring where Steven could leverage his status into good outcomes for Earth, but she could see just as many paths where missteps led to grave outcomes. She took a deep breath. _Love, and trust._ They had to try.

Greg was where she knew he would be, resting in the shadow of one of Obsidian’s fallen hands. He sat with his guitar in his lap, but the instrument was quiet, and his hands were still.

“Hello, Greg,” she greeted him, sitting down in the sand beside him. 

His hand strummed an errant note and he winced, setting his guitar down. “Oh, hey, Garnet. You guys helping Steven get packed? You’ll make sure he’ll have everything he needs?”

“We’ll be as prepared as we can be,” said Garnet truthfully. There was no more she could promise him than that.

Greg glanced over at her. “Congratulations. I didn’t really get a chance to tell you at the wedding, but I’m really happy for you.” He gave her a tired smile.

“Thank you, Greg. I’m happy too.” She gazed at the twin bands of gold and silver on her fingers. Despite the debacle of the reception, it had been a glorious day. But there was work to be done. “You’re worried.”

“Is it that obvious? I guess to you it would be,” said Greg. He kicked off his shoes, twisting his toes into the sand. The tide was coming in, the surf inching closer with every wave. In, and out.

“We’re all worried,” said Garnet. “That probably doesn’t help you.”

Greg laughed. “Well, at least it’s not just me.” He idly traced a pattern in the sand with his finger. “Look, can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Ruby said that Rose was Pink Diamond. Steven and I saw these two when we escaped from the Zoo, but they were… grieving. I didn’t know – I didn’t know they could do _this_.” He waved at the wreckage of the hand ships, the broken house he had built with the Gems years ago. “They would have _destroyed_ you guys if it hadn’t been for Steven.” His hand clenched in the sand, his fingers burying themselves. The water edged closer, lapping in, trailing out. “Was Rose like that? When she was… one of them?”

Garnet laid a hand on his shoulder, and he looked away, dropping his gaze. She pulled her hand back, frowning. “Pearl is the only one who truly knew her then. All I know is what I believed about her, what I’d been told.” She sighed. “Pearl told us that Pink Diamond hated what was being done to the Earth. The other Diamonds did not respect her, and they ignored her attempts to stop the colony. I do not believe that she was cruel, Greg. She saw great beauty in this planet, and no one with a cruel heart could have done so.”

Greg looked up at her, tears starting in the corners of his eyes. “Why didn’t she tell me, Garnet? I told Steven it was fine, but that’s just what you do with kids. You don’t lay your own problems on them. And being some kind of dictator, being strong enough to take out a chunk of the planet – this is a problem!”

“She didn’t want to be,” said Garnet sternly. “She was made a certain way. That wasn’t in her control.”

“But she could control whether or not she told us the truth,” Greg said, his voice heavy.

Garnet bowed her head. “Yes. That lie… it’s why Ruby and Sapphire separated. Rose had her secrets, and all of us had to bear the weight of them. Only you can decide how you move forward with that knowledge.” She lifted up her visor surreptitiously, wiping at one eye. “It’s all right to be angry, Greg. It’s all right to forgive, too.”

“Fair enough.” He let out a long, shuddering breath. “And is all of this – are these all things _Steven_ can do, too? This kind of destruction? What if he –”

“He won’t.”

“But what if he did, what if there was an accident –”

Flickers in her mind’s eye, dark paths, pain, sorrow, far down the river. Garnet shoved them aside. _Only possibilities._ There was still time to change the future.

“He _won’t_. He’s Steven.”

“Yeah. Yeah, he is. Thank goodness for that.” Greg pulled his hand out of the sand, wiping it on his pants. The surf had reached his feet, lapping against them. Greg slipped into his sandals and picked up his guitar. “Well, I didn’t write the song I had in mind. But this was good too.”

Garnet got to her feet, holding a hand out to him. He took it and she helped him up. “We’ll take care of him.”

“Take care of yourselves, too.” Greg tried on a smile. “Now, where’s that kid of mine?”

“He and Connie will be coming along shortly. It’s almost time to leave.”

Greg slung his guitar over his back. “Right. Gotta be supportive.”

“There’s the spirit.” She clapped him on the back, gently enough that he only stumbled a little, and they walked toward the temple, the surf hissing behind them.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, that was definitely a veiled threat about whatever is going to happen in Steven Universe: Future. aaaaaaaaaaaah!


End file.
